Method and system for automated document processing

ABSTRACT

A business reply mail piece and associated processing system that allows information contained within business reply mail to be scanned and interpreted before the business reply mail reaches its ultimate destination is provided. A machine-readable block of control information that instructs computer-driven actuators what to do with the business reply mail document itself, its digital image (or parts of thereof) and the data elements contained in the document, based on selections made by the recipient, is provided on the business reply mail piece. A scanner module scans the business reply mail piece to read the selection made by the recipient and the corresponding instructions from the block of control information. A control module interprets the data to provide instructions for the processing of the business reply mail piece based on the recipient&#39;s selection.

This application is a divisional of application Ser. No. 10/310,102,filed Dec. 4, 2002, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,775,590, which is herebyincorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates generally to document processing systems, andmore particularly, to a system and method for processing business replymail in an efficient manner to automatically interpret and act upon theinformation contained therein.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Paper-based or electronic documents are extensively used as media forproviding information. The purpose of such information is manifold. Mosttypical purposes for the information are to inform a human reader or tocause a certain action or actions by the reader. If a computer isutilized to interpret paper-based or electronic documents, with thedesire of having the computer execute one or more actions required bythe document, the computer must be capable of performing at least twofunctions. First, the computer must be able to “read” the document,i.e., accept and manipulate the information presented in a computerizedformat. Second, the computer must be able to decide what action isrequired based on the information presented. The decision as to anyactions required based on the information contained in the documentrequires computer interpretation of the data contained in the document.

With respect to reading the document, electronic documents typicallyalready exist in a form manipulable by the computer. The task ofconverting paper-based documents into a computerized format, i.e.,information that can be manipulated by a computer, involves scanning andcharacter recognition operations. For either type of document, however,the task of interpretation of the information for the purpose ofsubsequent action is a difficult one since computers do not possess anintrinsic understanding of the purpose of the information. Many attemptsto alleviate the task of interpretation have been proposed. For example,Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) techniques were created to includeinterpretation of the data contained in the document together with thedata itself. Similarly, modern computer languages, inspired by theproliferation of network computing, e.g., the Internet and the WorldWide Web, such as, for example, HTML and XML, are designed to enablestandard representation and interpretation of data by computers.

In many applications, however, the interpretation of data in thedocument may depend on several conditions that could not be completelyspecified at the time when the document was created. In mailingapplications, mail items are frequently sent by mailers to theirintended recipients in order to require or solicit a payment or apurchase. For example, many companies and private concerns use businessreply mail to solicit information and responses from the recipients ofthe business reply mail. As such, business reply mail has a wide varietyof uses and is often customized depending upon the needs of the sender.A few examples of the uses for business reply mail are subscriptionsolicitations, information request responses, proxy statement responses,remittance documents (invoices for payment due) and the like. In thesecases, the mailer frequently includes a business reply envelope (BRE) orbusiness courtesy envelope (BCE) and a reply form or slip that must bemarked by the recipient before inserting it into BRE or BCE and mailingit back to the sender. Alternatively, the reply form could be integralwith the BRE, such as, for example, a postcard or the like. Typically,the reply form is provided with a plurality of choices from which therecipient must select and mark the reply form to indicate the selectionmade. Thus, any computer interpretation of the reply form necessarilydepends on where the form has been marked by the recipient. As such, itis not possible to use conventional data interpretation techniques.

In many instances, companies must utilize manual techniques for theinterpretation of data when handling business reply mail and associateddata entry. The result is a time consuming and costly process that issusceptible to human error. For example, in credit card or other paymentremittance processing applications, bills are usually sent to payers bymail. A bill contains a form or slip and a BCE. The payer is typicallyprovided with three options for payment: (i) payment in full, (ii) aminimum payment amount, or (iii) some other payment amount. The choicesare presented on the slip in a written description together with a spacefor the payer to indicate, by marking with some type of mark such as,for example, a check mark, the desired selection. The payer is expectedto write a check or include a credit card number on the slip (dependingon the application) to execute actual transfer of funds from the payer'saccount to the payee's account. The payer normally inserts the markedslip and a check (if required) into the BCE and places the BCE into themail stream for return to the sender-specified mailing address. Severaldays after the BCE is deposited in the mail stream, the BCE arrives atthe sender-specified return address, where it is subjected to normalremittance processing. First, the BCEs are opened and the slips andchecks are extracted. The checks and slips are scanned and sorted byspecialized computer-driven equipment and totals are computed. Thechecks are then submitted to a financial institution for a clearingprocess where the effective transfer of funds takes place through theFederal Reserve Bank check clearing system.

Similarly, in many instances BREs are utilized in promotional mailingsthat offer prospective customers multiple choices in selectingmerchandise offered by the party making the promotional mailing, e.g., amerchant. Promotional mail normally includes a form or slip and a BRE.Alternatively, of course, the form could be integral with the BRE, as inthe case of a return postcard or the like. The recipients are requestedto mark the form in an appropriate manner, should they desire to acquirethe offered merchandise, insert the recipient-marked form into the BRE,and return the BRE to the mailer through the mail stream. Typically, thereturn mailing address is preprinted on the BRE. Several days after theBRE is deposited in the mail stream, the BRE is received back by theparty making the promotional mailing. Upon receipt of the BRE, themerchant or its agent opens the BRE to extract the contents and subjectthe contents to a process similar to remittance processing, namely,forms are scanned, the scanned information is interpreted, and theinformation is sent for fulfillment to the appropriate warehouses oragents. Again, the process is time consuming and costly.

Other applications where automatic interpretation of documents isimportant include health-care and legal applications, particularly whenoriginal documents are paper-based and intended for both human andmachine consumption.

In each of the situations described above, there are several shortfalls.For example, the entire process of returning and processing a BRE or BCEis costly and time consuming, and requires multiple redundantoperations, including, for example, multiple quality control checks,scans and key entries, since errors must be eliminated as much aspossible. The time delays associated with receiving and processing suchdocuments can also have a negative financial impact on the sender of thebill or the promotional mailing, e.g., the merchant. For example, it isnot until several days after the BRE or BCE is placed into the mailstream that the information from the BRE or BCE can be processed (afterreceipt by the merchant) and acted upon. Early interpretation and actionupon the information on the form included with BRE or BCE could resultin financial benefits to the merchant. For example, if a BRE or BCEcontaining payment or order information could be scanned and interpretedbefore they reach their ultimate destination address, it would providefor significantly expedited processing as well as processing costreduction. Expedited processing can result in an earlier transfer offunds to the merchant, thus lowering costs for the merchant.

Therefore, there exists a need for improved systems capable ofefficiently processing business reply mail to rapidly acquire theinformation that each reply mail piece contains and initiate appropriatefollow up activity.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a reply mail processing system thatallows information contained within business reply mail to be scannedand interpreted before the business reply mail reaches its ultimatedestination, thereby significantly expedited processing as well asreducing processing cost of the business reply mail.

In accordance with the present invention, a machine-readable block ofcontrol information that instructs computer-driven actuators what to dowith the business reply mail document itself, its digital image (orparts of thereof) and the data elements (interpreted as computerizedcodes, e.g., ASCII codes) contained in the document, based on selectionsmade by the recipient, is provided on the business reply mail. Abusiness reply mail processing system includes a scanner module and acontrol module, capable of interpreting the scanned data, in operativecommunication with the scanner module. A communication unit is inoperative communication with the control module. Preferably, the replymail processing system of the present invention will be installed atseveral mail processing stations, such as, for example, at mailinduction centers where mail scanning and processing equipment isemployed by postal operators and private carriers.

The machine-readable block of control information, referred to asmachine-readable control information (MRCI), is created by the partythat is sending the business reply mail, e.g. the mailer, such as, forexample, a bank, brokerage house, merchant, etc., and imprinted orotherwise attached either to the business reply mail itself or to abusiness reply envelope (BRE or BCE) containing the slip or formintended to be completed by the recipient. The MRCI and areas for therecipient to indicate one or more selections are situated in such amanner that they can be scanned and automatically interpreted during allphases of the business reply mail life cycle. The MRCI can containinformation related to one or more of the recipient, the sender, thecontent of the business reply mail and one or more sets of instructionsassociated with the selection areas intended for marking by therecipient. Optionally, the information may be encrypted. In general, theMRCI contains all necessary instructions for the processing agent, e.g.,the postal service, to scan and forward information conditioned by achoice made by the recipient to the sender or the sender's agent. Thisinformation enables the sender to automatically process actionsrequested by the recipient without additional human interaction.

According to the present invention, when the business reply mail pieceis received by the postal operator or private carrier for induction intothe mail stream, the MRCI and any selections made by the recipient arescanned by the scanner. The information is passed to the control modulefor interpretation. Based on the selection made by the recipient, thecontrol module will perform the appropriate set of instructions includedin the MRCI for processing the business reply mail piece. Appropriatedata elements, obtained from the MRCI based on the recipient'sselections, can be electronically sent, via the communication unit, tothe sender or the sender's agent. Thus, the sender, or remittanceprocessing agent of the sender, can receive all of the information, incomputerized format, required for efficient processing of the businessreply mail long before the physical mail item, i.e., the business replymail piece, is received through the normal mail delivery process. Thissaves the cost of additional manual or automatic processing of thephysical mail piece, as well as allowing for significant float benefitsto the mailer (merchant) due to the reduced processing time, at almostno additional cost to the mailer or postal operator. The physical mailpiece can be archived and retrieved, if necessary, to facilitatepotential dispute resolution between mailers and recipients.

Therefore, it is now apparent that the present invention substantiallyovercomes the disadvantages associated with the prior art. Additionaladvantages of the invention will be set forth in the description thatfollows, and in part will be obvious from the description, or may belearned by practice of the invention. The objects and advantages of theinvention may be realized and obtained by means of the instrumentalitiesand combinations particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of the specification, illustrate presently preferred embodiments ofthe invention, and together with the general description given above andthe detailed description of the preferred embodiments given below, serveto explain the principles of the invention. As shown throughout thedrawings, like reference numerals designate like or corresponding parts.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for creating and printing businessreply mail pieces having an MRCI according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 illustrates an example of a portion of a business reply mailpiece generated by the system shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a business courtesy envelope includingthe form of FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a processing system for processing businessreply mail pieces according to the present invention;

FIG. 5 illustrates in flow chart form the process of generating an MRCIaccording to the present invention; and

FIG. 6 illustrates in flow chart form the processing of a business replymail piece according to the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIG. 1, a system 100 for creating and printing businessreply mail pieces having an MRCI according to the present invention isgenerally shown. The term business reply mail, for purposes of thisspecification, includes any portion of a mail piece that a recipientreturns to the sender, such as, for example, a BRE or BCE and anydocuments or forms intended for insertion therein, postcards, or thelike. The system 100 includes a processing system 102, such as, forexample, a general or special purpose computer or the like, that isoperatively coupled to one or more peripheral devices including, forexample, a general purpose printer 104, or a label printer 106. A mailprocessing system 108 could also be coupled to processing system 102.Mail processing system 108 could be, for example, a postage meter, amailing machine, or a mail assembly machine such as an inserter.Alternatively, of course, processing system 102 could be integral withthe mail processing system 108. In accordance with the presentinvention, processing system 102, in conjunction with one or more of theperipheral devices 104-108, can be utilized to create a portion or allof a business reply mail piece, including a form 200, as describedbelow.

As previously noted, uses for business reply mail can include, forexample, subscription solicitations, information request responses,proxy statement responses, remittance documents (invoices for paymentdue) and the like, sent by the mailer, also referred to as the sender,to a recipient. The sender frequently includes a business reply envelope(BRE) or business courtesy envelope (BCE) and a reply form or slip thatmust be marked by the recipient before inserting it into the BRE or theBCE and mailing it back to the sender. Alternatively, the reply formcould be integral with the BRE, such as, for example, a postcard or thelike. FIG. 2 illustrates a form 200 generated by the system 100 shown inFIG. 1 for use with a business reply mail piece according to the presentinvention. The form 200 is an example of a remittance document sent by acredit card company. It should be understood, of course, that theinvention is not so limited and can be used with any type of businessreply mail.

As shown in FIG. 2, form 200 includes the address of the recipient(account holder) 210, the credit card account number 212, andinformation 214 related to the amount due, the minimum amount due, andthe due date. Form 200 also includes the destination address 204 of thesender, i.e., the address to which the form 200 will be returned by therecipient. Form 200 further includes one or more boxes or selectionareas 202 to be marked by the recipient based on a selection made by therecipient. The marks made by the recipient can be applied by hand, typedor printed, and reflect the recipient's choice, or choices, concerningoptions offered by the sender. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the recipientis provided with four choices based on the type of payment to be made.Each of the choices is provided in human readable text adjacent to arespective selection area 202. Thus, on form 200, the recipient canselect to pay the invoice in full, make the minimum payment due, makesome other payment amount, or provide a new payment account number thathas not been previously registered with the sender. Other options mayalso be provided to the recipient. For example, if the recipient hasmultiple payment accounts, such as, for example, multiple checkingaccounts, the recipient could be provided with an option to make apayment from either of the accounts. For security purposes, each accountcould be identified only by the last four digits of the account in thehuman readable text provided adjacent to selection area 202. Should therecipient wish to register a new payment account, an option to provide anew payment account could be provided as illustrated in FIG. 2. Itshould be understood, of course, that the options provided to therecipient can vary greatly based on the subject matter of the form 200,and are not limited to those as described above. For example, if theform 200 is related to a purchasing solicitation, the recipient couldhave several choices related to the type of product desired to bepurchased, payment option, etc. In addition, while form 200 illustratesfour possible options from which the recipient can select, the presentinvention is not so limited and any number of options can be provided.The number of options capable of being presented to the recipient mayonly be limited based on the physical space on the form 200 and possiblythe amount of instructions corresponding to each choice (as describedbelow).

According to the present invention, the form 200 is also provided with amachine-readable block of control information 206, hereinafter referredto as machine-readable control information (MRCI). MRCI 206 is createdby the party that is sending the business reply mail, e.g. the mailer ormerchant, and imprinted on or otherwise attached to the form 200. TheMRCI 206 includes instructions corresponding to each possible selectionprovided to the recipient that are required for processing the form 200according to the present invention. Specifically, the MRCI 206 providesinstructions related to processing of the business reply mail piececontaining the form 200 when returned by the recipient, its digitalimage (or parts of thereof) and the data elements associated with theform 200 or the reply mail piece. Preferably, the MRCI 206 is formattedas a two dimensional barcode, such as, for example, the well known PDF417 format from Symbol Technologies Corporation, or any other suitable,sufficiently dense, printed, scanable form of data representation, suchas, for example, data matrix.

The MRCI 206 contains information related to one or more of therecipient, the sender, the content of the business reply mail and one ormore sets of instructions associated with the selection areas 202intended for marking by the recipient. Preferably, the MRCI 206 containsinformation related to all data elements to be captured from the form200 or mail piece containing the form 200, including, for example, suchelements as one or more of the marks made by the recipient in area 202,the recipient's return mailing address 254 (FIG. 3), the destinationaddress 204 and the evidence of postage payment. MRCI 206 alsopreferably includes any data elements to be obtained from the systemprocessing the form 200 (described below with respect to FIG. 4) suchas, for example, a date/time stamp when the system scans the form 200,the identity and location of the processing system and other similarelements. MRCI 206 further preferably includes an identification of therecipient as assigned by the sender. For example, in the context offinancial or marketing applications, such identification could be one ormore payment account numbers the recipient has registered with thesender, or the recipient's credit card number. MRCI 206 furtherpreferably includes an identification of the form 200, an electronicaddress of the sender or its agent (e.g., an address of a serverassociated with the sender or agent), such as, for example, the e-mailaddress of a remittance processing agency used by the sender, and one ormore sets of instructions specifying what has to be done with the mailpiece containing the form 200, its information content, its image andits attributes and parameters (data elements) as a function of therecipient's indicated responses. MRCI 206 can also include anidentification of the transaction associated with the form 200. MRCI 200also preferably includes parsing information related to the form 200,such as, for example, the location on the form 200 of the selectionareas 202.

The MRCI 206 may also contain payment information for the postal serviceor a private carrier that is contracted as a mail processor. In somesituations, the sender, as a courtesy to the recipient, will providepostage for return of the business reply mail, i.e., form 200. In thiscase the MRCI 206 would contain all necessary information for effectiveaccounting and transfer of funds from the sender to the carrier service.Such information could include, for example, the sender's mailingaccount identity and a postage amount, based on a rate agreed to by thesender and carrier service, for the business reply mail piece thatincludes the form 200. If the sender utilizes a permit mail account, theMRCI 206 could also contain all necessary information for the permitaccount to allow the carrier service to bill the sender. In the casewhere the sender prepays for postage, the processing of claiming arefund for any mail pieces not returned is simplified by the presentinvention. For example, since each reply mail piece that is returnedfrom its recipient will be scanned by the carrier service (as describedbelow), an accurate record of each returned reply mail piece isobtained. For any reply mail pieces for which the sender has pre-paidfor return postage that have not been returned, the sender can request arefund for the postage amount. The carrier service, based on the totalnumber of reply mail pieces for which the sender has pre-paid and thenumber of reply mail pieces returned, will be able to easily calculateif the refund request is valid and accurate.

It should be noted that the processing instructions included in the MRCI206 that correspond to each possible selection provided to the recipientmay not be similar for all recipients. For example, the processinginstructions could be tailored to a specific recipient based onhistorical response activity of that recipient. Thus, for recipientsthat are categorized as “preferred customers,” the processinginstructions that correspond to a selection may not be the same for anidentical selection provided to a different recipient. For example, theelectronic address of the sender or sender's agent could be differentbased on the recipient's history of response activity.

It should be understood that the type and amount of the data included inthe MRCI 206 as provided above are exemplary only, and the presentinvention is not limited to those described. In practice, the type andamount of data included in the MRCI 206 may be greatly varied andtypically depends upon the application. Typically, the data required foran application would not exceed more than a few hundred bytes. Inaddition, if security of the data included in the MRCI 206 is an issue,the data may be encrypted to protect it from unauthorized use, using,for example, one or more keys. In this case, an appropriate keymanagement system must be established between the sender that generatesthe MRCI 206 and the processing system that will process reply mailpieces containing the form 200 (described below with respect to FIG. 4).Furthermore, other security techniques, such as, for example, digitalsignatures, could be utilized to secure the information in MRCI 206 ifdesired.

In the credit card remittance scenario previously described, theinformation contained in the MRCI 206 could include, for example, therecipient's credit card account number 212, a payment account associatedwith the recipient, such as, for example, a checking account maintainedby a financial institution, a unique identity of the invoice, anelectronic address of the sender or a remittance processing bankingagent, and a set of instructions that correspond with each one of theareas 202 that can be marked by the recipient. The payment accountinformation could have been previously obtained from the recipient, oralternatively, gleaned from prior payment instruments provided by therecipient. Thus, for form 200, the MRCI 206 will have at least four setsof instructions, one to correspond to each of the options available forselection by the recipient. Based on the selection made by the recipientand marked in area 202, the corresponding set of instructions willindicate the actions to be taken to process the form 200 as describedbelow.

FIG. 3 illustrates an example of a business courtesy envelope (BCE) 250into which the form 200 of FIG. 2 has been inserted after completion bythe recipient. It should be understood, of course, that form 200 couldbe integral with the BCE 250, such as, for example, a postcard or thelike. BCE 250 includes a window portion 252 such that the area 202 to bemarked by the recipient, the MRCI 206 and the destination address of thesender 204 are visible. BCE 250 can also be provided with an area 254for the recipient's return address, and an area 256 for providingappropriate postage to the BCE 250. Generally, the recipient must affixthe correct amount of postage to the BCE 250 in the form of adhesivestamps. Of course, if desired, postage for the return of BCE 250 couldbe provided by the sender and preprinted on the BCE 250 in the form of abusiness reply mail permit or digital postage mark by the mailprocessing system 108. Optionally, for additional security, if a digitalpostage mark (Information Based Indicia) is utilized, one or moreportions of the MRCI 206 can be included in the digital indicium thatevidences payment of postage. The information encoded in the MRCI 206,included in the digital indicium, can thus be protected againstalteration or unauthorized access utilizing the information securitytechniques provided for the digital indicium, such as, for example,digital signatures and encryption. BCE 250 may also be provided with afacing identification mark (FIM) 258. FIM 258 is a pattern of verticalbars printed in the upper right area of a mail piece, to the left of thearea 256. FIM 258 serves two major purposes. It allows mall pieces thatdo not contain luminescent stamps or meter imprints (such as businessreply mail and official government mail) to be faced (oriented) andcanceled (postmarked) by United States Postal Service (USPS) machinery.FIM 258 also permits business reply mail and courtesy reply mail to beseparated from other letters and cards for direct processing to achievefaster processing times.

It should be noted that the entire MRCI 206 need not be provided on form200. For example, if form 200 is to be used with a window envelope, suchas BCE 250, then it is possible to include portions of the MRCI 206 onthe face of the BCE 250. For example, the MRCI 206 could be partitionedinto different types of information, such as, for example, fixedinformation and variable information. Fixed information would be anyinformation that does not change regardless of the intended recipient,such as, for example, the electronic address of the sender. The fixedinformation could be printed on the BCE 250 in machine readable form.Variable information would be any information that is specific to theintended recipient, and thus may be different for each recipient. Thevariable information would be contained within the MRCI 206 on the form200. Partitioning the MRCI 206 has several advantages. For example, byremoving the fixed information from the MRCI 206 and providing it on theface of BCE 250, there is more room within the MRCI 206 on form 200 toinclude other information. This allows the MRCI 206 to include as muchrecipient specific information as possible, thereby increasing theusefulness of the MRCI 206. Furthermore, the additional space within theMRCI 206 on form 200 could be utilized to contain processinginstructions corresponding to additional options made available to therecipient.

Referring now to FIG. 4, a block diagram of a processing system 300 forprocessing business reply mail pieces, such as BCE 250, according to thepresent invention is shown. System 300 is preferably installed at mailprocessing stations, such as, for example, at mail induction centersoperated by a postal or private carrier where mail is first inductedinto the mail stream for delivery. System 300 could be integrated withthe functions of a facer/canceller system utilized by the postal carrierfor orienting and postmarking mail pieces based on the FIM.Alternatively, system 300 could be downstream from a facer/cancellersystem to which business reply mail and courtesy reply mail is directedfrom the facer/canceller. System 300 could also be installed at aprivate business office and used by the business to process businessreply mall pieces being returned from a recipient that are delivered tothe business by a postal or private carrier. System 300 includes aplurality of modules that perform various functions on mail pieces asthey are fed through the system 300 in a path of travel as indicated byarrow A by a transport mechanism 314, such as, for example, belts orrollers. The processing system 300 includes an input feeder module 302,a singulator module 304, a scanner module 306, an actuator module 308,and a control module 310. Control module 310 includes a processingsystem, such as, for example a general or special purpose computer orthe like and provides the main control of the functioning of system 300.A communication unit 312 is operatively coupled to the control module310. The communication unit 312 is coupled to a private or publiccommunication network 320, such as, for example, the internet. Aprocessing system 332 of sender 330 is also coupled to the network 320,thereby allowing system 300, via communication unit 312, to communicatewith the processing system 332 of sender 330.

Operation of the system 300 according to the present invention will nowbe described with respect to the BCE 250 of FIG. 3 and form 200 of FIG.2. After the recipient has completed the form 200 and taken any otheractions necessary for return of the BCE 250, such as, for example,enclosing a check, applying postage, etc., the recipient places the BCE250 into the mail stream for return to the sender. The mail pieces arecollected and brought to an induction site for processing by the postalor private carrier. Bundles of mail pieces (not shown) for induction areloaded by an operator into the processing system 300 at the input feedermodule 302. The input feeder module 302 advances the mail pieces towardthe singulator module 304 where the mail pieces are separated and fedone-by-one (one at a time) to the scanner 306 by the transport mechanism314.

The scanner module 306 is positioned adjacent to the path of travel onthe transport mechanism 314 so that mail pieces may be scanned and/orimaged as they are fed downstream by the transport mechanism 314.Optionally, the scanner module 306 can include a scanner on each side ofthe path of travel so that: (i) both sides of the mail piece may bescanned, if necessary; and/or (ii) depending upon the orientation of themail piece, information from the side of the mail piece requiringscanning may be scanned in the event that only one side of the mailpiece requires scanning. Generally, any conventional scanner, whetherbased on laser, CCD or some other technology, may be employed.

The scanner 306 scans the BCE 250 and obtains the information from theselection area 202 marked by the recipient, the MRCI 206, and any otherinformation that may be specified by the MRCI 206. The scannedinformation is sent to the control module 310 for interpretation. If theMRCI 206 is encrypted, control module 310 will decrypt the MRCI 206.Control module 310, based on the selection made by the recipient and thecorresponding instructions included in MRCI 206, will then process theinformation and the BCE 250 accordingly. Processing the informationincludes, for example, instructing the communication unit 312 toelectronically send one or more data elements of the MRCI 206 to theelectronic address specified in the MRCI 206. In addition, the controlmodule 310 will provide instructions to the actuator unit 308 forprocessing the BCE 250. For example, actuator unit 308 can be instructedto divert the BCE 250 from the normal processing flow for mail pieces,or to continue with the normal processing flow (resulting in the BCE 250eventually being delivered to the sender).

For example, with respect to the form 200 illustrated in FIG. 2, supposethe recipient marked the option for providing full payment (as shown inFIG. 3). Control module 310, upon determining that the full paymentoption was selected by the recipient, will then interpret theinstruction data that corresponds to this selection that is encoded inthe MRCI 206. The instruction data corresponding to this selection thatis encoded in the MRCI 206 instructs the control module 310 toelectronically send, utilizing an address in the MRCI 206 and thecommunication unit 312, the recipient's payment account number, the billidentity and a full payment code to the processing system 332 of thesender 330 (or to a remittance processing agent of the sender 330),along with any other information necessary, while proceeding with thenormal mail piece processing activities (e.g. sorting, transportationand delivery) for the BCE 250. If the recipient marks the areacorresponding to the minimal payment, the control module 310 will theninterpret the instruction data corresponding to this selection that isencoded in the MRCI 206. The instruction data corresponding to thisselection encoded in the MRCI 206 instructs the control module 310 toelectronically send, utilizing an address in the MRCI 206 and thecommunication unit 312, the recipient's account number, the billidentity and a minimal payment code to the processing system 332 of thesender 330 (or to a remittance processing agent of the sender 330),while proceeding with normal mail piece processing activities. If therecipient marks an area corresponding to one of the other options, thecorresponding instruction data encoded in the MRCI 206 instructs thecontrol module 310 to proceed with the normal mail piece processingactivities, i.e., the BCE 250 must be delivered to the sender 330 andthe BCE 250 processed in a conventional manner. In this manner, in thecase of full or minimal payment (which constitute approximately 99% ofall encountered situations) the sender 330, or the sender's remittanceprocessing agent, receives all of the information, in computerizedformat, required for efficient processing of the information containedwithin the BCE 250 long before the physical mail item, i.e., BCE 250, isreceived through the normal mail delivery process. This saves the costof additional manual or automatic processing of the BCE 250 by thesender 330, as well as allowing for significant float benefits to thesender 330 due to the reduced processing time, at almost no additionalcost to the sender 330 or postal carrier. The physical mail piece, i.e.,BCE 250, when received by the sender 330, can be archived and retrieved,if necessary, to facilitate potential dispute resolution between thesender 330 and the recipient.

While the above example has been illustrated with respect to acredit-card remittance scenario, it should be understood that thepresent invention is not so limited and can be used with any type ofbusiness reply mail. For example, the process for promotional mailcontaining solicitations for purchases works similarly as describedabove. Since the merchant can receive all of the information, incomputerized format, required for efficient processing of theinformation contained within the reply mail returned by the recipientlong before the physical mail item, i.e., the reply mail piece, isreceived through the normal mail delivery process, the present inventionprovides substantial savings and other benefits to the merchant. Theinstruction data encoded into MRCI 206 provides indications of all thepossible output activities that might possibly be taken based upon oneor more of the selections made by the recipient. For example, theinstruction data may specify any of the following: customer care followup activities, dispatch of requested materials to the recipient; billingof the recipient's account, and the like. Those skilled in the art willrecognize that due to the wide range of business reply mail, theinstruction data is quite varied and its exact makeup does notconstitute part of the present invention.

As discussed above, the control module 310 serves to coordinateactivities among the various modules of the processing system 300. Also,the control module 310 serves as an interface with the operator byproviding messages to and receiving input from the operator. As aresult, the control module preferably includes a display (CRT, LCD, orthe like) (not shown) and an input device (keypad, keyboard, touchscreen, mouse, or the like) (not shown). Therefore, those skilled in theart will recognize that the control module 310 may employ any suitablecombination of computer hardware and software to facilitate theoperation, storage, access and processing of information and variousother computer based communications that are required.

Reference is now made to FIG. 5 where there is illustrated in flow chartform the process of generating a reply mail piece including the MRCI 206according to the present invention. This process is performed by thesender, utilizing the system 100 previously described with respect toFIG. 1. The sender defines the possible selections for response thatwill be provided to the intended recipient in step 400. In step 402, aportion of the form 200, or reply mail piece if the form is integral tothe reply mail piece, is formatted according to selection to be providedto the recipient, such as, for example, by providing one or more boxesor selection areas 202 as shown in FIG. 2. The MRCI 206 is defined at404, based on the processing instructions corresponding to each possibleresponse, along with other information required based on theapplication. As previously noted, the processing instructions could alsobe based on historical response activity of the intended recipient. At406, the MRCI 206 is formatted into a machine-readable block ofinformation as previously described. Optionally, in step 406 theinformation may be encrypted. At 408 the form 200 (or reply mail pieceif integral with form 200) is printed, including the MRCI 206. At 410,all documents to be sent to the recipient, including, for example, theform 200, the BCE 250 for return of the form 200, promotional material,etc., are assembled for delivery to the recipient.

Reference is now made to FIG. 6 where there is illustrated in flow chartform the processing of a business reply mail piece, such a BCE 250, asperformed by system 300 of FIG. 4 according to the present invention. At50, the mail piece, e.g., BCE 250, is scanned and all requiredinformation including the recipient's marks from area 202 and the MRCI206 are captured and sent to the control module 310. At 502, the controlmodule 310 interprets the data contained in the recipient's marks fromarea 202 and MRCI 206. If the data contained within MRCI is encrypted,the control module 310 will decrypt the data. Alternatively, an image ofthe entire BCE 250 could be obtained and control module 310 couldutilize the image of the BCE 250 to interpret the data contained in therecipient's marks from area 202 and MRCI 206. At 504, the control module310 determines the processing instructions for the BCE 250 based on therecipient's marks and the corresponding instruction data in MRCI 206. At506, the processing instructions for the BCE 250 are sent to thecommunication unit 312 and the actuator 308. At 508, the communicationunit 312 and the actuator 308 execute the required instructions from thecontrol module 310. For example, communication unit 312 may be asked tosend the recipient's identity (e.g., account number), mail itemidentity, the recipient's mark (indicative of the recipient's choice),together with a digital image of the mail item, date/time stamp of thescanning event and identity of the system 300 to the electronic addressof the sender. Similarly, the actuator 308 may be asked to divert theBCE 250 for special processing or proceed with a normal processing path.For example, the recipient may by mistake make incorrect marks on theenvelope or document, mark several conflicting marks, or provide nomarks at all. In these exceptional cases the control module 310 willinstruct the actuator 308 to divert the mail piece for specialprocessing or continue with normal mail flow without engaging thecommunication unit 312 at all.

Based on the above description and the associated drawings, it shouldnow be apparent that the present invention improves many aspects of theprocessing of business reply mail. According to the present invention,the automatic processing of a business reply mail piece is based on oneor more selections made by the recipient to rapidly acquire theinformation that the business reply mail piece contains and allow forearly initiation of appropriate follow-up activity.

Many features of the above embodiments represent design choices selectedto best exploit the inventive concepts as implemented in a particularbusiness reply mail processing environment as pertaining to traditionalresponse card type business reply mail. However, those skilled in theart will recognize that various modifications and adaptations can bemade without departing from the spirit of the present invention. Forexample, if the business reply mail piece is a postcard, it may bedesirable to store a complete image of the postcard and destroy/recyclethe postcard without ever delivering the physical postcard to the sender330. It may also be desirable to provide authentication for the image.Thus, the image may be secured by employing a suitable encryptiontechnique. A digital signature, originating from a certificate authoritysuch as Verisign Inc., of the image may be stored along with the imageso that a high degree of confidence that the image has not been alteredis achieved.

Therefore, the inventive concept in its broader aspects is not limitedto the specific details of the preferred embodiments described above,but is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for generating a business reply mail piece comprising: determining at least one possible response for an intended recipient; determining processing instructions for the business reply mail piece that correspond to the at least one possible response; defining control information based on the determined processing instructions; formatting the control information into a machine readable block; and printing the business reply mail piece, including the at least one possible response for the intended recipient and the machine readable block of control information.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein defining control information further comprises: defining control information based on an identification of the business reply mail piece.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein formatting the control information further comprises: formatting the control information into a two dimensional barcode.
 4. The method of claim 1, wherein formatting the control information further comprises: encrypting at least a portion of the control information.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising: including at least a portion of the control information in an indicium that evidences payment of postage for the business rely mail piece.
 6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining processing instructions further comprises: determining processing instructions based in part on historical response activity of the intended recipient.
 7. The method of claim 1, wherein formatting the control information further comprises: formatting the control information and evidence of postage payment for the business reply mail piece into a machine readable block.
 8. The method of claim 1, wherein defining control information based on the determined processing instructions further comprises: defining a first portion of the control information and a second portion of the control information, wherein the first portion of the control information is printed in a first location and the second portion of the control information is printed in a second location.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first location is on a form associated with the business reply mail piece and the second location is on an envelope into which the form is intended to be inserted.
 10. The method of claim 1, wherein defining control information further comprises: defining control information based on an identification of the intended recipient.
 11. The method of claim 10, wherein the identification of the intended recipient includes an account number associated with the intended recipient.
 12. A business reply mail piece, comprising: a plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of selection areas being associated with a respective option available to a recipient; and control information including a plurality of processing instructions for the business reply mail piece, each of the plurality of processing instructions corresponding to a respective one of the plurality of selection areas, each of the plurality of processing instructions providing instructions related to processing of the business reply mail piece when returned by a recipient based on a selection made by the recipient.
 13. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein the control information is a two dimensional barcode.
 14. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein the control information further includes an identification of the business reply mail piece.
 15. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the control information is encrypted.
 16. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein at least a portion of the control information is included in an indicium that evidences payment of postage for the business reply mail piece.
 17. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein the control information further includes evidence of postage payment for the business reply mail piece.
 18. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein the control information further includes information related to a location of the plurality of selection areas on the business reply mail piece.
 19. The business reply mail piece of claim 12, wherein the control information further includes an identification of the recipient.
 20. The business reply mail piece claim 19, wherein the identification of the recipient includes an account number associated with the recipient.
 21. The business reply mail piece of claim 20, wherein the account number is for a payment account.
 22. The business reply mail piece of claim 20, wherein the account number is for a credit card account. 